Semester's End
(December 13, 2007)
It's two in the afternoon, last day of the term,
Incipient winter rich in the air as I walk
Across campus, a bundle of papers in hand.
Clouds form and abate, afternoon light
Touches the needles of a young ponderosa,
Just so, and each glows, radiates brilliance.
The pond water is still, reflects perfect
Trees and buildings, and the big perch glide
Slowly, not even disturbing the surface.
Stormclouds rise in the west, moving inland--
They'll bring rain after sundown, red sundown,
And I am walking away, not even limping,
I stride eagerly now toward this oncoming storm.
* * * * *
~ Bill Hotchkiss is my friend and mentor. He is a well-known scholar on the poets Robinson Jeffers and William Everson (of whose literary estate Bill is executor). He has published several highly regarded novels, several books of poetry (most notably Climb to the High Country), and has taught at Sierra College in Northern California for many years.
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